Thomas Paul (1773–1831) was a Baptist minister in Boston, Massachusetts, who became the first pastor for the First African Baptist Church, currently known as the African Meeting House. An abolitionist, he was a leader in the black community and was an active missionary in Haiti. Early life and career Paul was born in the town of Exeter in Rockingham County, New Hampshire on September 3, 1773. He was educated at the Free Will Society Academy with two of his brothers. He then pursued higher-education for the ministry in Hollis, New Hampshire, at the Free Will Baptist Church. Paul was baptized by Reverend S.F. Locke and ordained in West Nottingham Meetinghouse by Reverend Thomas Baldwin in 1804. He married Catherine Waterhouse from Cambridge, Massachusetts on December 5, 1805. Shortly after their marriage, they had three children and moved to Boston in 26 George Street. First African Baptist Church After moving to Boston, Paul and his family became members of the First Baptist Church. However, following various conflicts with the white members of the church, such as mistreatment of black members, and placing them in the worst seating sections hidden from the minister, Paul and fellow black members created their own body of the church: the First African Baptist Church. Old-Time New England correspondent J. Marcus Mitchell wrote regarding this conflict, "The black members were not being given an equal role in church activities." Paul met on August 8, 1805 with twenty other black congregational members in Faneuil Hall to discuss how to organize the new of the body church. The church was built with the help of Cato Gardner and the congregation. Shortly after its construction, on December 4, 1806, he became the first pastor for the First African Baptist Church. Paul oversaw the church become a charter member of the Boston Baptist Association, and baptized over a hundred people in his time as pastor. From 1818 to 1828, the attendance of the church grew from 100 to 139. The lack of increase in attendants to the First African Baptist Church is argued to be due to Thomas Paul's abolitionist views at the time. After its foundation, the church went under various names: Independence Baptist Church, Belknap or Joy Street Baptist Church, and "The Abolition Church" following the founding of the New England Anti-Slavery Society in the church by William Lloyd Garrison on January 6, 1832. Abyssinian Baptist Church After the